The moose that had been a man

An old hunter plans to pursue two moose. The moose, aware of his intentions, attempt to evade him. The hunter successfully kills one and chases the other, which eventually reveals itself as his younger brother who had transformed into a moose. Recognizing this, the hunter spares the moose, allowing his brother to return to human form.

Source:
The Beaver Indians
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 4
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The younger brother undergoes a physical change from human to moose and back to human.

Family Dynamics: The relationship between the hunter and his younger brother is central to the narrative.

Loss and Renewal: The younger brother’s disappearance and eventual return to human form symbolize themes of loss and restoration.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A large band of Indians were moving about when one old man said that he would hunt the next morning along the mountains. There were two moose together who heard the old man say that. “That old man has great supernatural power; he is coming after us and we will not be able to get away from him. We will travel very slyly,” the moose said. They had heard the old man talking and therefore traveled about with great caution.

When the old man came along he did not follow the tracks of the moose, but went around another way and shot one of them with arrows. He did not stop to cut up the moose he had killed, but, saying to himself that there had been two of them and that one was missing, he went after it.

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The moose ran very fast and lay down quietly at the end of the path. The old man went directly to the place where the moose was lying, following a direction at right angles to that taken by the moose. The moose got up. The old man had feathers on his bow (arrow) which showed the way he should go. When these feathers moved the moose heard it. He saw the man. “What shall I do now, he has me killed long ago?” the moose said to himself. He looked about to see where the trees were thick and ran there. The man ran along beside him so that the moose could not escape. Seeing a small open place, the moose said to himself, “Let him kill me there.” Seeing that there was nothing more that he could do, he ran to the open place, jumped to the spot, and fell.

It seems that the moose was a person. This old man had had a younger brother who had disappeared into a herd of moose. That was the moose he was following. “I am that one,” the moose said, “what do you want?” “It is better for you to go to some larger country,” said the man. He did not kill the moose for he knew it was his younger brother. Then he left him and became a man again.

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Adventures of two boys

Two boys survive a Cree attack that decimates their tribe. They encounter two young geese, tie them to an old canoe, and fall asleep as the geese pull them along. Upon waking, the geese have matured, and the boys, driven by hunger, consume them. Their journey leads them to a giant’s lodge, where they are given magical bows and instructed to always leave a remnant of their food. Disobeying the giant’s warning, one boy retrieves a stuck arrow, causing him to ascend to the sky, where he embarks on further adventures.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The boys undergo significant changes, both physically and emotionally, as they navigate their journey and face various challenges.

Quest: Their journey to find safety and return to their homeland serves as a central quest in the narrative.

Loss and Renewal: The story begins with the loss of their community and follows the boys as they seek renewal and a new beginning.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A band of Indians was staying along a lake. Once two little boys were playing by the lake, while the Cree came and killed all their people. When they returned home, one of them said, “All our people are killed, I don’t know what to do.” They walked about crying.

Towards evening two young unfledged geese came swimming along. The boys caught hold of them. Finding an old canoe by the shore, they tied the geese to it and bade them swim off to their country. The boys fell asleep, while the geese pulled their canoe along. When they woke up, the geese were full-grown. They were hungry and had nothing to eat, so they killed the geese, roasted them, and ate their flesh.

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They started off traveling and continued going for a long time. They got to a lodge. There was a giant family living there. The children were outside. The mother came out; she did not know what kind of people the boys came from. She took them in, and they were kept there for a long time. After a while, the giant dreamt that some Indians were coming. He said to the boys, “My grandchildren, I am hungry for fish and beaver. Walk along the shore, and if you see anything white rising, cry out, ‘My grandfather would like to eat some beaver and fish!’”

The little fellows started out. They saw something white rising from the water and called out as bidden by the giant. Then a beaver and a trout came out of the water, and they killed both. They carried them to the lodge. The giant cut up and dried the trout. Of its eyes he made pemmican for the little fellows. He made two bows and arrows and gave them to the boys. “If you shoot with this arrow, and it should get stuck anywhere, don’t remove it, but leave it in that place. This other arrow will never stick, but will always fall down again.” Then he bade them refrain from eating all their meat at once, but ordered them always to leave a remnant. He showed them the way to their own country, and they started out.

They had something to eat when they got hungry, but, remembering the giant’s caution, they pushed a part of their meat back into their sack. In the evening they opened the sack, and it contained as much pemmican as before. They ate all but a small piece, which was replaced in the bag. In the morning the meat was still of the same size as originally.

They hunted some chickens perched on a tree. One was killed and fell down, but the arrow stuck. The boys took the chicken and started off again into the bush, but there they found the arrow lying in front of them. They walked on. Again some chickens alighted on a tree, not very far away. They shot at it, and the one arrow got stuck though rather close to the ground. One boy was going to get it. His brother said, “We were told not to go after that arrow.” The first boy said it was not high, and insisted on getting it. As he touched it, the arrow ascended higher. “I’ll jump up and get hold of it.” “No, don’t,” said the other boy, but his brother disobeyed and jumped. Then the arrow went up with him to the sky.

It was summer when he was traveling on the earth, but in heaven it was winter. The arrow stopped, and the boy began to travel about. It looked like his own country in winter. He saw partridge tracks, and finally he got to people’s tracks. Following them for a long time, he got to two lodges, one being large and the other small. He entered the small one, and found an old woman sitting there all alone.

In the large lodge people were heard singing and laughing. The old woman took a lot of coal and blackened the hero’s face with it. After a while her two girls came in from the large lodge. Seeing the boy, they called out that their mothers had a fine-looking visitor. They went back to their large lodge and told the other inmates about him. Meanwhile the old woman washed him and dressed him up nicely. When the girls returned, and saw the boy nicely dressed, they no longer laughed at him, but were surprised. They told the people of the lodge what a nice boy was staying with their mother.

Both desired to marry him. In the night the boy slept in the old woman’s lodge and the girls came in and lay down on each side of him. He turned to the youngest, et sub vestem manum introduxit, sed aliquid manum prehendit, and he pulled it back. Tunc ad utrius filiae vaginam pedem suum propellit, sed iterum aliquid eum prehendere conatus est. He pulled it back. One woman had mice under her dress, the other one ermines. They all fell asleep. In the morning the boy still slept soundly. He sunk way down into the ground. The old woman and the girls started off with their lodge-poles. The girls in one place smelt a person. They heard some animal calling underground. “One of us had better get ribs to dig up this fellow.” They got a rib and began digging, but it broke. Then they got a moose rib, and with it they succeeded in digging up the boy who had turned into a wolf. He recognized the girls, and said, “You pretend to know much, but I know nearly as much as you. Here are two arrows, if a female comes, it shall belong to the Ermine girl, if a male comes, it shall belong to the Mouse girl.”

The girls saw the tracks of a male and of a female moose. The wolf said, “If a moose starts running, just shoot your arrows and follow into the bush.” They soon came to the female, cut it up and dried its meat. The male was shot and treated in the same way. As the wolf had directed, one girl stayed by one moose, the other by the other, while the wolf remained with the mother. The wolf and the old woman heard wolves howling in the distance. Starting in that direction they found that one girl had been rent to pieces by the wolves and that a lot of ermines were running about there. The wolves had only torn the Mouse-girl’s dress and there were a lot of mice running about there. The wolf said, “Your daughters thought they knew lots, but I know more.” He started off with the wolves. Then he turned back into a person and married the Mouse-girl. The three then stayed together.

The boy was a great hunter. They had plenty of dried meat. The old woman would make rawhide cordage and when she had made a great deal of cord, she said, “I know a place where there is a hole in the sky, and where we can go down to another world.”

They traveled a long time to the sky-hole. She made a moose-skin bag for the boy, passed a line through it, and said, “I’ll let you down to your own country. When it stops, you’ll open the sack and come out. Pull the line to let me know you have arrived.” He descended for a long time, until the sack stopped. He got out, and jerked the rope, whereupon the sack immediately ascended again.

He found himself on an island, and all around it was nothing but foaming rapids. He got to an eagle’s nest. Only the young eagle was there. He said, “I am very anxious for you, for my people are wicked. I’ll try to save you. Hide under my wing-feathers.” So he pushed the boy under his feathers. Then he continued, “My mother will soon come. When she approaches it will be dark like a cloud. When my father comes, it will sound like a big wind.” After a while it began to grow dark. “My mother is coming.” When the female arrived she said, “My son, I smell some people here.” But the eaglet replied, “There is nothing here.” She repeated, but he insisted that no one was there. After a while a big storm was heard, and the father bird arrived. “My son, I smell the odor of people here.” The boy denied that there were any people there. The father repeated his statement, but the boy persisted in his denial. After a time the old eagles started off again. Then the eaglet said, “Pull out two feathers from each side of my body, and try to fly.” He put the feathers on the boy’s arms, and said, “Fly around.” The boy began to fly but his legs hung down. “Pull two feathers from my tail, and attach them to your legs.” The boy did so, and then flew about like an eagle. “Now you can fly to your country, but always stop for the night,” said the eaglet. “When you reach your country, stick my feathers on the trees.” The boy flew to his country. He arrived there by night, and stuck up his borrowed feathers. He traveled homeward, camping every night, as ordered by the eaglet. One day he was hungry, and began to break a beaver lodge, making a chisel of rib bones and a spear. He watched for the beaver, but though something stirred in the water, no beaver came up. As it grew dark, he camped. Suddenly something caught hold of him from behind. It was one of the big eagles, who flew off with him. They got to a frozen creek, all covered with blood. There the bird threw the boy down, but the latter just put out his chisel, and was not hurt by the fall. Then the bird again seized him, carried him off, and hurled him against a sharp ice-crag. But again he put forward his chisel, so that it stuck in the ice, and he was saved. Then the eagle said, “My children will kill him.” So he took him back to the eyrie. The young ones recognized him. The old bird said, “I’ve brought you a person to kill when you are hungry.” The young birds said, “We’ll keep him for company, let him stay with us.” After much discussion the old eagle finally consented. Then the old eagles flew off. The young eagle again gave feathers to the boy, and he flew off. [The narrator insisted that nothing further was known of the boy’s adventures.]

The Snow-Man

An extended two-year winter causes animals to lose their horns and people to face starvation. An encounter with a white figure, the Snow-Man, leads to the revelation that northern Indians are harming his offspring. Upon hearing this, the Snow-Man retreats to the Barren Grounds, bringing the return of summer, migrating geese, and the restoration of animals’ horns.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The community struggles against an unending winter and its harsh consequences.

Loss and Renewal: The tale depicts a cycle of hardship during the extended winter, followed by rejuvenation with the return of summer.

Origin of Things: The story provides an explanation for the seasonal changes and the return of animals’ characteristics.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Once it continued to be winter for two years. There were no geese in the country, and moose, deer, and caribou had no horns, the people did not know why. The ice never thawed during all this time. The Indians could not dig holes for their nets. They made big fires, heated stones red-hot, and threw them on the ice, but it was too thick to be broken through. The Indians were beginning to starve. Towards springtime there was a little thawing, but then it became winter once more. Many died of starvation. The survivors were crying for fear. One man started off towards Fond du Lac to set snares for partridges. When visiting his snares he met a person on the road. This person was quite white, and behind him came nothing but snow. It was the Snow-Man. The Indian said, “What are you coming here for? The Indians up north are killing all your children.” When Snow-Man heard this, he turned right about to the Barren Grounds. Then summer came, the geese returned, and moose and deer had horns once more.

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The Sun-Catcher

A man named Ayas sets a snare on a trail after his deerskin coat is mysteriously burned. The next day, the sun fails to rise, and Ayas discovers he has trapped the sun. Various animals attempt to free it, but only a small yellow mouse succeeds by gnawing through the snare, sacrificing itself in the process. This act explains why a certain species of mouse has yellow fur.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The narrative explains the origin of the yellow coloring of a particular mouse species, attributing it to the mouse’s act of freeing the sun.

Sacrifice: The small yellow mouse sacrifices its life by gnawing through the snare to release the sun, ensuring its return to the sky.

Loss and Renewal: The temporary loss of the sun and its eventual release symbolize a cycle of disappearance and restoration, reflecting themes of loss and renewal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A man named Ayas was traveling about in the brush. He came to a trail, where he found all the sticks burnt. He lay down to sleep there, and while he was sleeping something passed over him and burnt up his deerskin coat. He woke up and was very much vexed at the sight of his burnt garment. Unstringing his bow, he cried, “I’ll find out what passes this place.” He made a snare of the string, setting it in the road. He went home. The next day, there was no sign of the sun’s rising. Ayas’ sister suspected that her brother was to blame, and said, “You are always after some mischief.” He replied, “I set a snare the other day, I’ll see whether I have caught anything.” He found that he had snared the sun. All the animals tried to release it, but it jumped to and fro, so that it was too hot for them.

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At last, a small yellow mouse began gnawing at the string until it was gnawed through, but the mouse was burnt to death. The sun started on its path. This is how the skin of one species of mice came to be yellow. If it had not been for the mouse, the sun would have remained a prisoner.

Fishing for husbands

In a large family of sisters, the eldest catches a husband by fishing him out of the water with a hook. Inspired, the second sister attempts the same but fails due to her wickedness. She later behaves inappropriately towards her brothers-in-law, leading to her family’s disappearance. Left alone, she mourns until a man in a canoe offers to reunite her with her sisters, taking her to a distant village.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The second sister undergoes an emotional journey from wickedness to remorse, leading to a change in her circumstances.

Family Dynamics: The story explores relationships among the sisters, highlighting themes of jealousy, rivalry, and reconciliation.

Loss and Renewal: The second sister experiences the loss of her family and later finds a form of renewal upon reuniting with her sisters in the distant village.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Walter, of Anvik

There was a big family of girls, and the second sister was a wicked little thing. In the summer all these girls made fish-nets, and caught a supply of fish for winter use; and in the winter they made snares. So they kept themselves well supplied with food.

One winter the older sister made a fish-hook, and then she made a hole in the ice and let the hook down into the water. She felt something on the hook, and pulled it up, and found that she had an old wooden bowl. She let it down again, and felt something else, and tried to pull it up, but it was very heavy. So she pulled very hard, and at last she pulled out something tied up in a bag. She opened it, and found that there was somebody inside. She ran up on the bank; but some one overtook her and caught her, and she saw that it was a fine young man.

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“What are you afraid of?” said he. “I am afraid of you,” said she. “Well,” said he, “let us go down and get my things!” So she went down with him, and she saw that there was a good sled.

Then he got all his things, and they went into the house. And when the girls saw them, they all had a fit of bashfulness; but the second sister spoke, and said, “Where did you get your husband?” “I caught him in the water with a fish-hook,” said she. “I want to get one, too,” said the second sister. Then they all went fishing, and all had good luck but the second sister. She got no husband, because she was not a good girl.

Now, the young men all went hunting deer, and they had good luck; and after the hunt they all went into the kashime. And that bad girl, made eyes at her brothers-in-law; and all her sisters said to her, “Don’t make eyes at your brothers;” but she said, “I don’t care.” After that, she said to her oldest sister, “How did you get your husband?” And she said, “Well, you make a hole in the ice, and let your fish-hook down into the water; and when you get a bite, you pull hard; and if you find a bag on the hook, you must not be afraid, but open it right away.” “I’ll do it,” she said. So she went and made a hole in the ice, and let down her hook; and pretty soon she felt something on it. She tried to pull it up, but it was too heavy. Then she saw that it was a big bag, and she became frightened and ran up to the house; and all her brothers and sisters dove down into the water; and when she went to the house, there was nobody there. So she did nothing but cry all the time; and when it came springtime, she made herself a little house, but still she did nothing but cry all the time.

When it came summer, she saw a man coming in a canoe. “Why are you crying?” said he. “Because I want to see my sisters,” said she. “Well,” said he, “get into my canoe, and I will take you to them.” So she got into his canoe, and he took her about one day’s journey, and they came in sight of a big village; and she went ashore, and there she found the sisters that she loved.

The chief’s son and the ghoul

In a large village, a chief’s two sons embarked on a hunting journey. Each night, one brother mysteriously died, only to reappear the next evening, claiming the other had left without him. This cycle repeated until they reached the ocean, where they parted ways, agreeing not to look back. The elder brother then encountered a sled laden with dead men, driven by a small old man.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Resurrection: Both brothers die multiple times and come back to life, highlighting the theme of returning from death.

Journey to the Otherworld: The brothers’ travels, especially onto the ocean and their eventual separation, can symbolize a venture into unknown or otherworldly realms.

Loss and Renewal: The repeated deaths and resurrections represent cycles of loss and renewal within the story.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Once there was a large village where a chief lived who had two sons who were old enough to go out hunting. One evening, when they went to bed, they agreed to go out hunting together the next day; so in the middle of the night they got up and dressed themselves, and got their snowshoes and started out.

They walked all that day; and when evening came, they made their camp, and the next morning they started again. Twice they camped in this way, and on the third evening they made their camp as usual; but the next morning when the older brother got up, he found that his younger brother had been eaten by mice and other small animals during the night.

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Then he wailed for him long and loud, and afterward he left him lying in the camp, and started on again. He walked all day, and in the evening he made his camp; and after he had built the fire, as he sat weeping for his brother, he heard a noise in the direction from which he had come; but he did not look up. Then some one said, “What is the matter? What are you crying for?” and he looked up, and saw his brother standing by the fire and smiling at him. “I thought that you were dead,” said he, “and that you had been eaten up by the mice.” — “You are mistaken,” said his brother, “you only failed to tell me that you were going, that was all.” So they had their supper and went to bed; and in the morning the younger of them got up, and found that the elder had been eaten up by the mice, too. And after he had cried for him, he left him lying in the camp, and went on.

At the end of the day’s walk he made a camp; and no sooner had he made a fire and sat down, than he heard a noise. So he looked up, and saw that his brother was coming into the camp; and his brother said, “Why is it that you did not wait for me this morning?” “Well,” said the younger one, “I did not wake you up, because you had been eaten up by mice and some other little animals.”

Now, the next morning the older brother got up and found that his brother had been eaten again; but this time he did not cry, because he knew that he would come to life again. So he left him there and went on his way, and did not stop to rest all day until he found a place to make his camp.

When he had found a good place, he camped and made his fire; and as he sat by the fire, he heard a noise again, as he had the day before, and looked up and saw that it was his brother. “Why is it,” said he, “that you did not let me know when you were starting this morning?” “Well,” said his brother, “I could not let you know when you had died and were eaten by mice.”

The younger brother was eaten three times, and the older brother was eaten four times, and after that it did not happen to them again.

So they travelled along without any more trouble until they came to the ocean. They went right straight out upon the ocean; and finally they stopped and said to each other, “We cannot travel together this way all the time.” So the older said to the younger, “You shall go south, and I will go north. You must not look back when you have left me.” So they left each other, and neither turned to look back.

As the older brother was going on his way, he saw something on the ice in the distance. It was too far away to tell what it was; but as he came nearer, he saw that it was a great sled loaded down with dead men, and that there was a little old man behind it. The sled ran as fast as though nine dogs were pulling it; and the old man had a hatchet behind his head, which he pulled out, and with it he attacked the young man and tried to kill him. But the young man was too much for him, and he was unable to kill him. By and by the young man took away his hatchet; and the old man said, “My grandson, I did not intend to kill you, I was just fooling. Sit on the sled among the dead people.” The young man said, “Are you sure that you will not kill me?” “I am sure,” said he. So the young man got into the sled; and the old man pushed it, big as it was; and it ran along as easily as could be. In the evening they came to a kashime. There were no other houses, except a brush-house, standing beside the kashime. The old man took all the dead men into the brush-house, and the young man went into the kashime and fixed himself up nicely, as the old man had told him to do. Then the old man gave the younger one some king-salmon and some icecream, and everything that he called for.

After the young man had gone to bed, the old man went out and built a fire in the brush-house, and staid there all night; but he had told the young man not to go out during the night. In the morning the young man got up and found the old man sleeping, and he looked into the brush-house and saw nothing. The dead men had all been eaten up. He went back to the kashime-, and by and by the old man woke up and came in and gave him food again, the same as he had done the day before.

Then the old man took the big sled again and went into the woods, and after a while he brought it back loaded down with spruce hens. He put these also into the brush-house. During the night he ate everything up again. The next day he remained at home all day; and the following morning he said, “My grandson, today there will be strangers here. I am glad of this.” In the afternoon the young man went out and saw some strangers coming, all in line, with axes and spears in their hands, intending to kill the old man. The young man told the other that they were close to the place; and the old man dressed himself and put his girdle around him, and took his axe and went out to meet them. But he told the young man to stay in the house, and not to go out until the fight was over. Then they began to fight, and there was a great noise outside for a long time; and then the young man went out, and found that the strangers had all been killed by the old man. Not one was left alive. Then he helped the old man to put them into the brushhouse; and there were so many of them, that it was late in the evening before they finished.

The old man staid in the brush-house again all night, among the dead people, and the next day he brought in another sled-ful of grouse. The day after that he staid in bed again all day, sleeping; and the following day he said, “My grandson, there will be more strangers here today, and you must fight them this time. I think you will be all right.” In the afternoon more people came than the last time; and when they drew near, the young man went out to meet them and killed them all, as the old man had done. He filled the big sled with them, and brought it to the brush-house and put them into it; and the old man passed the night cooking them.

The next day the old man told the younger one to take the big sled and get some grouse. “Where can I find them?” said he. The old man said, “You will find them all in one tree. Take my arrow and shoot to one side of the tree, and they will all fall down.” The young man went away; but he had not gone far, when he saw a big tree filled with grouse. Every branch was loaded down. There was one grouse larger than all the rest, sitting on the lowest branch. He had great eyes, and was looking straight at him. The young man tried to shoot him in the eye; but the arrow glanced upward, and did not strike him. But the other grouse all fell down dead, while the big one still sat looking at him.

He brought the grouse back to the brush-house and put them into it; and then he went into the kashime and found the old man there, but something was the matter with his eyes. “Grandfather,” said he, “what is the matter?” but the old man did not answer. Then the young man remembered that he had shot close to the big grouse, and he told him about it; and the old man opened his eyes wide, and was sick no more.

The next morning the old man said, “We had better go to see your grandmother.” The young man agreed; and the old man brought out the big sled, and fitted up a little place at the back with deer-skins, and had the young man get into it; and he put in a man’s rib with the meat on it, and lashed it in so that it could not fall off. Then he hitched a great harness made of brownbear skin to the sled, told the young man not to peep, but to keep himself under the skins, and started off. In the evening they came to a house. Then the old man told the younger one to get out of the sled and tell his grandmother to come out and see the dead people; and the young man saw that the sled was full of dead bodies, but he did not know where they came from, for he had seen only one rib put into the sled. So he went into the house, and all at once he heard the old woman saying, “Here comes some fresh deer-meat!” but the old man said, “It is your grandson, you must not kill him.” They unloaded the sled and went into the house; and the old people made ice-cream for the young man, and they began to eat the dead people, but they would not allow the young man to eat with them.

The next morning the young man said that he would like to go to see his father and mother; and they made two bowls of ice-cream for him, and put them into the sled, and made a little place for him in the sled, and the young man got in, and that evening he was at home.

When he came near to the house, he saw some women crying, as though some one were dead. He left the sled in the woods; and when he tried to get into the house, he could not (for want of strength), so he fell head-first over the porch and fainted. When he came to himself, he found himself in bed, with his father and mother on either side of him. He opened his eyes slowly, as though he were at the point of death, and said, “Mother!” “My son,” said his mother, “is that surely you? You are out of your mind (Ni ye’ge” tuxaiudu’t, qwuta’).” — “No,” said he, “I am not crazy, I am all right, but where is my brother?” His father said, “My son, your brother has been dead for a long time.” Then he got better every day, until he was well, and they lived there together.

The knocked-down mouse

A mouse repeatedly slides down a hill, losing its teeth and legs in the process. Eventually, it rolls into a water hole and discovers a house where old women are using its lost body parts as needles. The mouse reclaims its parts, reassembles itself, and escapes, noticing that summer has arrived.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The old women possess knowledge or abilities beyond the ordinary, as they use the mouse’s teeth and toe-nails as needles.

Loss and Renewal: The mouse experiences loss through the disintegration of his body but achieves renewal by reclaiming and reassembling himself.

Conflict with Nature: The mouse’s initial playful interaction with the hill leads to his physical disintegration, highlighting a struggle against natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Told by Kate Phillips

A little Mouse was sliding down hill all day long; and as he slid down, he lost one of his front teeth. And he went up and slid down again, and lost another tooth. He went up and slid down again, and lost one of his legs; and he slid down again, and lost another leg. And so he lost all his legs, and he had not a leg to stand on; and he went rolling down over the ice, and rolled into the water-hole. It was very deep, and there was ice at the bottom; so he rolled out, and went rolling up the path that led to the water-hole, until he heard some one talking. Then he saw a large house, and he rolled up the roof to the smoke-hole, and saw two old women who had his fore-legs, and two other old women who had his hind-legs, and two other old women who had his teeth; and they were using his teeth and his toe-nails for needles. He rolled down off the house and into the entrance, and got his feet and his teeth, and put himself together, and went outside in a passion. When he got outside, he saw that the ice had gone and that summer had come, and he ran away squeaking.

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Wolverene

A hunter’s wife urges him to stay home, fearing visitors, but he dismisses her concerns and leaves. While alone, she encounters a mysterious man who offers her beads and asks her to accompany him, but she declines. Upon her husband’s return, he discovers the beads, becomes angry, and destroys them. The woman later meets the stranger again, who restores the beads and takes her to the moon. The distraught husband searches for her, finds no tracks, mourns, and transforms into a wolverine.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The wife’s interaction with the stranger and her subsequent departure can be seen as a form of betrayal, leading to the husband’s sorrow.

Divine Intervention: The visitor’s influence over the wife and his otherworldly nature suggest intervention by a higher power.

Loss and Renewal: The husband experiences the loss of his wife and undergoes a personal transformation, symbolizing a form of renewal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

A married couple lived by themselves, and they had a cache and a house. The husband hunted, both with marten-traps and with arrows. “Well,” said he one day, “I must go to my marten-traps;” but the woman was unwilling (to let him go). “No,” said she, “why should you? Come,” said she, “stay here today! Perhaps there will be strangers along.” But the man said, “Who can there be to come? There is nobody around. Mine are the only tracks there are.” And he went off, dressed for the trail. Meanwhile his wife began to cry while she sat sewing in the house. At noon, outside the house, she heard some One brushing the snow off his boots, and another than her husband came in at the door. Then the woman drew her hair over her face, and put some meat and fat into a bowl and gave it to him.

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“Won’t you have something to eat?” said she. “Why, no,” said he, “I’m not hungry. It’s you that I came for. Come with me!” But she refused. Then he gave her some beautiful beads, and put them upon her neck, and went away. Then she made a fire and cooked (supper), expecting her husband, thinking that he would be hungry. By and by he came back, and they ate (supper); and he put on the curtain, and they went to bed. She undressed; and her husband saw the great (string) of beads, and scolded her angrily. “Who gave them to you,” said he, “when there is nobody here?” and he smashed the beads with a big maul, and put them on a snow-shovel, and threw them out at the smoke-hole, and lay down. Then the woman began to cry. “Come,” said her husband, “do your crying outside. There’s no sleep (to be had here).” So she went out and began to cry outside. Then it was dark with the woman, and she looked for the moon. There he was, in it. That man was in the moon. He (looked at her and) laughed, there, in the moon. Then he went toward her. He came to her side. “What say you?” said he. “Oh,” said she, “he smashed the beads.” Then the man went up on the house and took the beads again, and they were whole; and he put them upon the woman’s neck again. Then he took her, and went with her to the moon. Meanwhile her husband roused up, and went outside. His wife was gone. All around the place he went (looking for her); but there were no strange tracks, only his own. Then he began to cry, and burned his parka, hair, and back, and went off as a wolverene.

How Raven stole the old woman’s bear-meat

An old woman lived alone, subsisting on fish and game. After killing a bear, she stored its meat. Raven visited, feigned helpfulness, and borrowed her fishskin parka and boots, which he secretly consumed. While she searched for the missing items, Raven devoured her bear meat and vandalized her home. Upon her return, she discovered his deceit, killed him, and later encountered two women seeking their husband. A confrontation ensued, resulting in the old woman killing them both.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Raven embodies the trickster archetype, using cunning and deceit to achieve his goals.

Revenge and Justice: After discovering Raven’s deceit, the old woman takes justice into her own hands by killing him.

Loss and Renewal: The old woman experiences loss after Raven’s theft but encounters new challenges and characters, suggesting a cycle of loss and new beginnings.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was an old woman who lived year in and year out in the same place. In the summer she fished with a net, to get her winter supply of fish; and in the winter she lived in an earth house, and worked at snaring rabbits and grouse. One day, as she was making a fire, a bear made his way into the house, and she killed him, and afterward she went to bed; and next morning she got up and skinned the bear, and cut up the body, and filled her cache with the meat, and buried some of it in the ground. Then she went into the house and cooked the bear’s feet for herself. As she finished cooking them, the Raven came in. “Where did you come from?” said she. “From somewhere,” said the Raven.

► Continue reading…

So she gave him some of the meat; and he said, “Dear grandmother, I want to get some wood for you.” The old woman agreed; and the Raven said, “But I am too cold. Lend me your fishskin parka and boots.” So she let him take them, and he went off as if he intended to get some wood; but when he was out of sight, he ate the parka and the boots. Then he came back; and the old woman said, “Where are my parka and the boots?” And the Raven said, “Oh, my dear grandmother! I forgot, and left them where I was getting wood.” And the old woman said, “Well, go back and get them!” And the Raven said, “I don’t want to go back for them. Get them yourself, grandmother!” So the old woman started off to get the boots and the parka, but she could not find them; and while she was gone, the Raven flew up, alighted on her cache, and ate all her bear-meat. Then he went down into the house, and turned everything upside-down, and smeared the place with bear’s grease. Pretty soon the old woman came back to the house, and found the Raven playing with the bear’s fat. “Where did you get that bear’s grease?” said she. “Dear grandmother,” said the Raven, “that is what you gave me yesterday evening.” Then the old woman killed the Raven, and hung up his skin in the house; and afterward she cried all the time, because she had no food for the winter. Some time after that, she came in one day, and found two women in her house. “Oh, my!” said she, “where did you come from?” “We have lost our husband,” said they, “and we are looking for him.” “I haven’t found anybody,” said the old woman; but one of the women began to look around, and she saw the Raven’s skin; and they both set upon her to kill her, but she turned out to be the stronger, and killed them both.

(Another version) There was once an old woman. She lived in a little house. One day she heard a great noise at her door. It was a big beast trying to get in. The old woman got her hammer and awl, and she struck the beast and killed it. Then she brought it into the house and cooked it, and there was plenty of meat and fat on it. She put it all into her cache, except the entrails; and she was cooking these, when she heard some one coming. It was the Raven, and the old woman told him to come in. They ate the entrails, and afterward the old woman told the Raven to get some wood for her. She gave him a pair of fish-skin mittens and a fish-skin parka and fish-skin boots. As he was going out, he ate one of the mittens; and while he was in the woods, he ate the other, as well as the boots and the parka. Then he got some wood and came back to the house. The wood was wet, and the old woman threw it all out again -, and at that the Raven came in, and she asked him where all the clothing was that she had lent him. He said that it had been very hot, and that he had left the things on a tree and had forgotten all about them. She told him to go and get them, and he refused. Then she went into the woods to get them herself, and the Raven stole all the fat that she had put into her cache, and fouled the floor of the cache with his excrement. When the old woman came back, he had made a ball of the fat, and was playing with it. The old woman asked him where he got the fat; and he said, “You gave it to me this morning.” She was angry, and said, “I did not give you that this morning.” Then she went to look at her cache, and saw what he had done, and that the fat was gone. This made her angry, and she got her hammer and awl. When she went in, she told the Raven that she was going to cut his hair, but she hid the hammer and awl under her parka; and when she came up as if to cut his hair, she drove the awl into his head with a blow of the hammer, and killed him. Then she pounded him to a pulp with her hammer, and put him into a bowl, and put him into a hole in the ice, and went into her house again. As she sat in her house, she heard a noise at the door. There were three women, and they had three little babies on their backs. They came in, and asked where the Raven was. She said, “I don’t know where he went.” But they did not believe her, and they began to fight with her, and dragged her down to the hole in the ice and fought with her there; but she forced one of them into the water, and then another, and then the other, and then she went back to her house.

The woman taken by the Ku’staka’

A woman, fearing enemy attacks, hides her children in the woods but never returns. Her husband finds the children but not his wife. She had been taken by a Ku’staka’ (a mythical being) and remained under its influence for two months. Eventually, she is found living alone and is reunited with her family, leading to a celebratory potlatch.

Source:
Tahltan Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.32, No.124, pp.198-250
April-June, 1917
Vol.34, No.133, pp.223-253
July-September, 1921
Vol.34, No.134, pp.335-356
October-December, 1921

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The Ku’staka’ is a mythical entity that interacts with the human world by abducting the woman.

Loss and Renewal: The community experiences the loss of the woman and later her unexpected return, symbolizing a cycle of loss and renewal.

Conflict with Nature: The woman’s survival in the wilderness, living on raw salmon without clothes or fire, highlights a struggle against natural elements.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

A Wrangel woman was camped with her husband and children. At this time people were afraid of enemies attacking and enslaving them. Her husband was away hunting, and the woman was afraid that their camp might be discovered. She took her children and went into the woods. Here she left her children hidden at the foot of a tree, saying that she had to go back to camp for something she had forgotten. She never came back. The husband came home, and, finding neither wife nor children, looked around for tracks. He followed them, and found his children in the woods. The children told their father that they had heard a noise, and that their mother had left them to go back to camp for something she had forgotten. The husband found no trace of his wife. He took the children and returned to Wrangel. This happened in the spring-time, about early in May, and at a place about thirty miles from Wrangel.

► Continue reading…

The woman had been taken by a Ku’staka’ man, who kept her for about two months. For that time she was under his influence. Finally the Ku’staka’ deserted her, and then she recovered her senses. In summer the people moved camp to a salmon creek. The woman was then on this creek, living on raw salmon. She had no clothes and no fire. One day two young men happened to go up the creek, and saw her. She ran into a hole among the roots of trees. They went to the hole and asked her to come out. She was ashamed because she was naked. The men turned their backs, and one of them took off his shirt and threw it to her. She put it on, and accompanied them in a canoe to Wrangel, where her husband was living. When they came near her husband’s house, they called out that they had recovered his wife, but he would not believe them. Her husband was a rich man. He gave a great potlatch because of his wife’s return, and paid the young men liberally.